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Scared of going for a diagnosis

Alice

Hi All,

I'm new to community and looking for general support and advise...

I have been slowly coming to realisation that I'm likely Autistic and it has taken a lot of time piecing things together to come to this point.

The issue I'm now having is going for a diagnosis scares me silly. I worry about not being authentic and it all being in my head. Being a woman and learning to mask to survive to a level that I'm not even aware of scares me that I might not get the diagnosis. Having no-one from my childhood years that can provide information, very little of my own memory as a child and evidence as a child also means I worry I can't get diagnosis.  

These doubts stop my going ahead as it become too overwhelming for me, but I also need help to then start the unmasking process and get help getting to know people. I feel quite lonely at the moment and don't really have friends or family I can open up to.

Bit of a ramble above, but looking to see have others had this same experience of emotions and feeling of the process? Some confirmation from others of similar experiences to my own could really help alleviate the anxiety.

Also, any advise on your experience as a woman going through process would be gladly received.

Thank, Alice

Parents

  • Hello Alice, 

    A man here, age early 70s. I have just recieved my Autism diagnosis.  
    I had many of the same feelings you mention. I prevaricated for quite a time going through the "will I be able to illustrate my autism".  I needn't have worried, as the two specialists were very experienced. The assessments are standard and designed to obtain the data required but are not like an exam. I found it a most remarkable and memorable experience. Probably the first time anyone has taken me so seriously. 

    I, too, was worried about being able to provide the answers required.  But it isn't like a school spelling test i.e. right or wrong. So, just a poor made poor example of how a professional might ellicit the information they require:

    Question: Have you ever flown in a plane?
    Answer: No, I would hate that. 
    Question: Why would you hate it?
    Answer: Well, it would make me very anxious.
    Question: Do you get anxious a lot? 
    Answer: Oh, yes all the time!
    Question: Can you give me an example?
    Answer: Oh, this will sound so stupid but I really get stressed using a public loo or even one is somebody else's house.
    Question: Did you get anxious when you were little?
    Answer: School was so strange and all those people, and names, and rooms, and corridors, and loos. I felt so lost.

    This actually mirrors my own experience of starting school and I never ever got used to it.

    Best wishes with whatever decision you make. 

    Oscar 

           

Reply

  • Hello Alice, 

    A man here, age early 70s. I have just recieved my Autism diagnosis.  
    I had many of the same feelings you mention. I prevaricated for quite a time going through the "will I be able to illustrate my autism".  I needn't have worried, as the two specialists were very experienced. The assessments are standard and designed to obtain the data required but are not like an exam. I found it a most remarkable and memorable experience. Probably the first time anyone has taken me so seriously. 

    I, too, was worried about being able to provide the answers required.  But it isn't like a school spelling test i.e. right or wrong. So, just a poor made poor example of how a professional might ellicit the information they require:

    Question: Have you ever flown in a plane?
    Answer: No, I would hate that. 
    Question: Why would you hate it?
    Answer: Well, it would make me very anxious.
    Question: Do you get anxious a lot? 
    Answer: Oh, yes all the time!
    Question: Can you give me an example?
    Answer: Oh, this will sound so stupid but I really get stressed using a public loo or even one is somebody else's house.
    Question: Did you get anxious when you were little?
    Answer: School was so strange and all those people, and names, and rooms, and corridors, and loos. I felt so lost.

    This actually mirrors my own experience of starting school and I never ever got used to it.

    Best wishes with whatever decision you make. 

    Oscar 

           

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